At times this season the prospect of an English club reaching the Heineken Cup final has felt like a distant dream. That made Northampton's convincing semi-final victory in Milton Keynes all the sweeter, a result to savour for all those beginning to wonder if money counts for more in European rugby than heart and soul. This was a Saints' day to remember, particularly if you were a tight forward wearing green, yellow and black.

Perpignan will certainly not forget their first trip to this town. The Catalans had arrived with a heavy‑duty scrummaging pack of formidable reputation but they left bruised and battered. In their nightmares they will see the faces of Soane Tonga'uiha, Dylan Hartley and Brian Mujati, with Phil Dowson and Courtney Lawes riding shotgun. To say Perpignan were smashed would be nothing more than the truth.

As well as propelling the Saints to a first European final since they won the Heineken Cup in 2000, the result added lustre to the Cardiff finale on 21 May. Not since Brive won the title in 1997 has a team gone unbeaten through a European campaign; Northampton have won eight out of eight games since October. It is by no means certain that a fine Leinster side can be upset at the Millennium Stadium but on this evidence the Irishmen will be required to roll up their sleeves.

If one symbol of local superiority is wanted, the 66th-minute scrum which saw the Perpignan pack shunted up and back, the front five bucking and splintering like crash-test dummies in a slow-motion accident, will do. This was supposed to be the year the French clubs squeezed their English rivals until their pips squeaked. Instead, when it came to the crunch, only one Top 14 side – Stade Français – will feature in either of the two European finals.

The luck of the draw has played a part but there is a fragility to French self-confidence, particularly on the road, which contrasts starkly with the fortitude which Northampton's mainly Anglo-Saxon team displayed by the bucketload here. From start to finish the Saints appeared to want it more. There is no Olympic stadium in Milton Keynes, no move to have Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire declared as independent states. But the East Midlanders' passion is no less intense on these occasions than that displayed by their Catalan equivalents. The mind spooled back to 2000, when Munster should have won the Heineken Cup final at Twickenham by a distance. It was the Saints, against the odds, who picked up the trophy that day. They have had a taste for European nectar ever since.

Perpignan's afternoon was encapsulated by their diminutive winger, Julien Candelon, an international who was guilty of two schoolboy errors. The first came when, under no pressure, he fumbled a rolling ball in his own 22. It had started life as a Stephen Myler penalty attempt but it had been badly mishit. Instantly, psychologically, the tables were turned and within a minute Jon Clarke had strolled through an almost comically wide midfield gap to score his side's second try.

Up went the restart and there was Candelon again, clattering Lee Dickson in mid-air to earn the stupidest of yellow cards. The Perpignan coaching staff said nothing as he trotted past them to the sin-bin – there was nothing printable to say. At such moments Jacques Brunel's decision to swap Catalonia for the Italian national job seemed perfectly understandable. Perpignan's epic quarter-final win against Toulon in Barcelona was, with hindsight, their final.

Had Saints taken all their chances it would have been an annihilation. They made the perfect start, James Downey freeing Dowson for a long break down the middle and Paul Diggin recycling the ball right, where Ben Foden had acres of space to score. Foden twinkled all day, making one sublime break past a wrong-footed Jérôme Porical. It was something of a surprise when a Perpignan lineout drive just before the interval yielded a try for the combative hooker Guilhem Guirado, to trim the half-time deficit to 20-7.

"More of the same" was the message from the Saints coaches, though, and Hartley and Co obliged, with Tonga'uiha running amok at times. It is permissible to wonder whether Northampton will be able to withstand the blue Leinster machine but they have the scrummaging power to cause problems. Much will depend on their domestic fortunes, with a victory needed over Leeds this weekend to guarantee a place in the Premiership play-offs. Last season they finished with a whimper, beaten at home by Saracens in the semis. Twelve months on they look mentally and physically stronger. If they can keep their heavy hitters in one piece, anything is possible.